


muffled, from the other side of the door

by respoftw



Series: 35 Ways To Say I Love You In The Pegasus Galaxy [22]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Love Confession, M/M, Trapped, hyperthermia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 05:59:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8238530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/respoftw/pseuds/respoftw
Summary: Rodney had been idiotic enough to get himself locked in an unexplored room.





	

John rounded the corner at a run, the words ' _ Rodney _ ' and ' _ trapped _ ' running through his mind on a loop.  Zelenka's frantic radio call had interrupted the morning military meeting and a squadron of marines jogged behind him as they made their way to the remote section of Atlantis that Rodney and the science team had been exploring when Rodney had been idiotic enough to get himself locked in an unexplored room.

“Zelenka, report.”  John didn’t bother with pleasantries when they arrived, his eyes already taking in every inch of the door that Rodney was trapped behind.

“Colonel,” Zelenka cast a hesitant look at the contingent of marines awaiting instruction, “we have been unable to open the door.  The control crystals are not responding to our usual methods and - - “

“How’s McKay doing?” John asked.  He tapped on his own radio before waiting for an answer.  “McKay? Talk to me, buddy?”

“The radios do not work,” Zelenka interrupted apologetically.  “There must be something in the room blocking the frequency.”

John felt himself grow cold.  “So, what?  We don’t even know if he’s alive in there?”

“No, no, no, he is alive,” Zelenka assured him as he gestured John closer to the door.  “The walls and door are thick but if we are quiet and listen carefully we can communicate through the door.”

Relief almost bowled John over.  Now that he was standing closer, he could just about make out the familiar rise and fall of a McKay rant through from the other side of the door.

“Rodney?” he shouted.

“Sh..pard?”

Rodney’s voice, faint and muffled though it was, was like a tonic to John’s nerves.

“You doing ok, Rodney?”

John struggled to make out every word of the quiet rant that followed but two alarming words managed to register.  ‘ _ Temperature _ ’ and ‘ _ burning _ .’  John whirled around to glare at Zelenka.  

The Czech looked apologetic.  “From Rodney’s information and the readings we have managed to take, the temperature in the room is increasing at an alarming rate.  If we do not get him out of there soon then…”  

John didn’t need Zelenka to expand on what would happen if they couldn’t get Rodney out.  Turning to look at the waiting marines, he pulled on his game face.  “C-4,” he demanded.  “Who’s packing and how much do we have?”

He was rewarded with enough C-4 to blow the control tower; he’d never been prouder of his soldiers.  “This gonna work?” he asked Zelenka, nodding to the explosives.

“We had better hope so,” Zelenka said seriously.  

John nodded and started directing the placement of the C-4.  “We should have a medical team on standby,” he said.

“I called Carson right after I called you, Colonel.  They should be here soon.”  

Soon would have to be good enough.  John tried not to think about how far away they were from the central hub of Atlantis, from the infirmary.  He and the marines had ran all the way here and it had still taken them the best part of half an hour.  The medical team were probably at least another fifteen minutes away.  It would have to be enough.

“Rodney,” he called through the door.  “I’m gonna need you to move as far away from the door as you can, OK?  We’re gonna try something?”

“...ways..blow...uff up..”  Rodney’s muffled voice came through the door.

John grinned.  “You know us military types.  As far back as you can, OK?  We’ll get you out, I promise.”

With the C-4 set and Rodney, hopefully, as far away from the door as he could get, John ushered everyone down the corridor and around the bend.  The medical team were just coming into view now, Carson looking shaky and out of breath as he lead the charge.  John signalled for them all to wait, trusting Zelenka to explain what they were trying to do.  

He took a deep breath and prayed to whatever the hell was up there that this worked.  

“Fire in the hole.” John squeezed the detonator and tried not to think about the potential damage that the ensuing explosion could do to Rodney.

Signalling for the civilians to stay back, John and the marines moved to investigate the damage.  He’d been so busy hoping that Rodney would be unharmed that he hadn’t even considered the possibility that it wouldn’t work.

But there was the door, still as solid and insurmountable as it had been, if now a little scorched.

John saw his own fear mirrored on Zelenka’s face.

“What the bloody hell do we do now?” Carson asked.

Nobody had an answer for him.

* * *

Two hours later, John sat with his back against the damnable door and his head in his hands.  The latest readings they’d pulled from the room had shown that the temperature inside was dangerously hot and he knew Beckett was convinced they were running out of time.  The fact that Rodney had gone quiet was a more telling indicator to John that they were screwed.

Zelenka and a dozen other engineers were still working on the problem, would work until the last possible second, would probably work beyond that until they could at least bring Rodney’s body home.  John shook his head to clear that awful image from his head.

“You still there, Rodney?” he called out, needing to hear Rodney’s voice.

“-arely,” came Rodney’s reply.  “Any..uck?”

“We’re still working on it,” he promised, feeling beyond useless.

“-oo late.”

“No,” John stood up and pounded on the door.  “We’ll get you out, all you have to do is hold on until we do, OK?  Just hold on.”

John pressed his palm against the door, feeling ridiculous but hoping that Rodney was doing the same.  He heard a faint scraping noise from inside the room and knew that Rodney was close, just beyond the door.  He might as well be a million miles away.

“- ohn?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“It’s...right.  There’s…..thing….ant to say....I...st..nt you to...at I lo...you.”

John froze.  Did Rodney just say - - before John could fully process the words, the door slid open and the wave of heat that wafted from the room almost knocked John off of his feet.

“Rodney!”  John moved quickly, pulling Rodney’s too still form from the oven like room and into the cool corridor.  Rodney looked unfocused and uncoordinated, his skin an overheated red.  There was no sweat on his skin and John knew that was bad.  He yelled for Carson and watched the medical team hook Rodney up to an IV, working to bring his temperature down.

Zelenka looked from the now active control panel to John in confusion.  “How did you - what happened?”

John shook his head.  He had no idea what happened.  All he knew was that he couldn’t lose Rodney now.  Not if he’d said what John had though he said before that door opened.

* * *

John sat on the chair next to Rodney’s infirmary bed and watched him sleep.  Carson and the team had worked on him for hours before declaring him out of the woods and John hadn’t been able to relax through any of it - Rodney’s last words (God, please don’t them be his last words) running through his head the entire time.

It had only taken one look for Carson to realise that telling John to leave and get some sleep would be futile before he relented and allowed John to stay.

Ronon and Teyla had been by, both had tried to persuade him to leave but John refused.  He was going to stay right where he was until Rodney woke up.  It was the least he could do after he had failed to get Rodney out of that oven.

“Colonel?”

John shifted as Zelenka settled in the chair on the other side of Rodney’s bed.  

“I have been doing some interesting research in the database.”

John groaned.  “What the hell did the Ancients do this time?”

Zelenka chuckled without much humour.  “They do seem to cause us trouble, yes. This room was - - it was classed as a medical treatment room. The Ancients were experimenting with forms of psychological therapy.  The room was supposed to...to force you to admit something that you had been hiding, force you to realise whatever was holding you back by applying negative stimuli until you had no choice but to - - they shut it down after numerous patients died.“

John rubbed his face as he watched the blips on Rodney’s heart monitor spike steadily.  He really, really hoped he never met another Ancient as he was liable to shoot them on sight.

“You were talking with Rodney before the door opened.”  Zelenka hesitated.  “Did he say - -”

“What he did or didn’t say isn’t up for discussion,” John interrupted, looking hotly at Zelenka.

Zelenka offered a small smile and nodded as he stood up to leave.  He paused, the curtain around Rodney’s bed half opened.  “I wish you both the best,” he said quietly.  “You will be good for him, Colonel.  I think he’ll be good for you too.”

John huffed a breath of laughter. He was too exhausted to deny it, had come too close to losing Rodney to even try.  He waved Zelanka away and settled down to wait for Rodney to wake up.

He really hated the Ancients - this was never the way he would have wanted this to happen but maybe, this time at least, something good would come from their failures.

He hoped.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, you can find me on [Tumblr](http://buffycuddlespigs.tumblr.com)


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